Lateral motion device



J. C. MARIS LATERAL MOTION DEVICE Filed March 27, 19-37 4 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR dAMEs C. NAB/s AORN'EY May 23, 1939. 1 MARS 2,159,813

,2 LATERAL MOT-ION DEVICE Filed March 27, 1937 4 Sheets-sheaf 2 INVENTORJAMES C/1A2Is ATTORZ EY May 23, 1939. J, c MARIS LATERAL MOTION DEVICE 4Sheets-Sheet s Fi led March 27, 1937 INVENTOR Wines (1 MAB/S p of thepedestals l3, l3. To flexibly restrain such lateral "Patented May 23,1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFITC E:

2.159.813;- LATERAL MOTION DEVICE James osMar aclenomen, Pa.

1 Application March 27; 1937..SerialsNo.133;406t

6 Claims. c1 .'105: s) I the housing l2 in either direction from itscenter,

This invention relates generally to lateral motionclevices forlocomotive driving wheels, and

I itris oneiobject of mywinvention to provide an, improved lateralmotion device that is simple and; economical in construction, operation"and maintenance and 1 is compact I and rugged consistent with thenecessary degree of. flexibility to yieldingly restrain lateral motionof the truck l or wheels and return of the same to its central positionafter itis moved laterally.

. A further object isto provide an improved type ingslin which:

Fig. 1 is. a fragmentary plan view. of a pairgoh of locomotive drivingwheels and a portion of the being shown locomotive frame, the axlehousing I. in section for clarity; l

Fig; 8 2 s isa, longitudinal. vertical section. taken.

Fig; 3 .is-a transversesection taken on thevlinel.

Fig. 4 is a plan .view similarto Fig. 1 but show ing a modifiedarrangement of, the lateral motion devicettogether with its. applicationto anvunenmclosediaxle.

In the particular embodiments of the invenj tiontsuchas are disclosedherein merelyfor the purpose. of illustrating certain specific formsamong possible others that the invention might takein practical haveshownin Fig; 1 a locomotive frame 5 of any usual typehavingcross websand tie members 6 and I Usualdriving wheels fland 9 secured to an axlelfl are supporteduby suitable: bearings ll disposedwithin.

401 end portions of an axle housing I 2 and which 'end portions broadlycomprisejournalboxes.

. j Onlyone setof driving wheels is shownalthough 1 itis obvious thatany number may be" used de E'ach H pending upon the size of thelocomotive. asset of drivers, axle housing and lateral motion device tobedescribed are identical ineach case,

i and hence it will sufiice to describe the same in connectiom with onlyone set of wheels. The 1 axle housing is vertically guided in usualpedes- 5o tals l3. To permit a limited amount of relative lateralmovement between theirame and wheels, housing 12 is provided with thrustsurfaces l4 and I5 slightly spaced from the inner surfaces movement of iI have.- provided my improved lateralmotion device consisting ofamelongated U-shaped torsion spring havingtwo legs "and I8 reverselybent upon each other to provide a closed end l9. As seen inlFig. 2, eachtorsion rod I! and I 8 has preferably slightly enlarged journals 26, 2|and 22 supported-.inbearings 23, Hand 25. These bearings" are suitably.secured to or formed as a part'ofmtheunder sideof the cross members 6and. 1, thebearings and 25 being located forwardly andrearwardlyof theaxle. Thus the axesxofv the axle and-torsion ro'ds are at right anglesto each other although disposed in superimposed planes. To connect therods ll and I8 to the axle housing, upstanding. lugs 28 and 29 aresecured. thereto and project upwardly into suitablyformed axlehousingrecesses 30 and 3|. Fig. 1.. Links=32 and.33 pivotally connect.lugs 28: and 29:toaxle. housing lugs 34 and 35. Inasmuch-asithelugs andlinksfor operatively connecting the othertorsion'rod. I8"to theaxlehousingj are identical to thellelementsijust described for rod H, thesame reference numbers are employedsfor; corresponding parts; it beingnoted thatxthe; links 32 and:.33 for therespective rods l-lkandlwextendlaterally away from each other. The; sets of lugs 28 l and .29 arefirmly secured to thearodszlllandja by providing flattened sur-. faces36 and 31 on each of the rods. These fiattenedsurfaces are'verydesirableinasmuch as in .thenoperation of improved lateral motion devicethelinks32 and 33 pullon the arms 28 and 29 to twist the rods ll andulaupon occurrence of .relativetlateral; motion betweenqthe axle and frame;Itwill be understood thatxthe torsion rods may ifzdesired besubjectedto. a pre-loaded torsional force therebycausing these'rods to have agreatertendency toreturn the axle to its central positionafter beinginitially moved therefrom. It is also :seen that the: multiplicity ofbearings 23, 24 and 25 insure-maximum stability andruggednessof'thelateral motion device while' the arrangement'as'a wholeis most compact in that it is 'adaptedto lie-immediately below the mainframewhile" at the same time permitting the necessary degree offiexibility which is required in a device of this type.- i i It will ofcourse be understood that the frame may be supported upon the axlehousing through any suitable spring rigging and equalizing system suchas is diagrammatically indicated at 38, 39 and 40. Such parts are wellknown in the art, and hence need not be described further.

To facilitate the assembly of the arms 28 and 29 with the torsion rodsl1 and I8, a very simple and effective construction is employed as shownin Fig. 3, wherein each arm 29 has an enlarged vertical slot 4|terminating in inwardly inclined walls 42 and a downwardly projectingstop 43. A block 44 has the general configurations of the walls 4| and42 and is provided with a vertical slot 45 for receiving the flattenedportions 36 of the torsion rods. A bolt 41 extends through the arm 29and block 44 to rigidly hold the same together while the stop 43 insuresproper spacing of the arms with respect to the rods.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, two sets of U-shaped torsion rodsand 5| are provided, these rods terminating short of the axle 52. Therods are operatively connected to usual friction type journal boxes 53and 54 through links, arms and lugs 55, 56, and 51 identicalinconstruction and arrangement as those described for the preferred form.The journal boxes are provided with lateral clearances 58 and 59 on theoutside of the locomotive frame 60 instead of on the inside as shown inthepreferred form of Fig. 1. The operation of this arrangement is thesame as in the preferred form in that lateral motion of the journalboxes relative to the frame will cause the independent sets of rods 50and 5| to be subjected to torsion, thereby always tending to return thejournal boxes and wheels to their central position relative to thelocomotive frame. This modified arrarmement permits the lateral motiondevice to have greater torsional strength due to the use of two sets ofdevices but notwithstanding such increased strength, it is apparent thatthe devices are compactly arranged with respect to the frame and axle.

From the foregoing disclosures of the two modifications, it is seen thatthe principle of construction employed is such as to be highly conduciveto an efficient, compact, relatively simple and yet sturdy lateralmotion device that can be effectively applied to new or existingequipment with no appreciable change in the construction thereof.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forthin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, springs connected tosaid frame and supported on said journal boxes, and a lateral motiondevice including a torsional member and means operatively connecting thesame to said journal boxes and to said frame whereby upon occurrence ofrelative lateral movement between said journal boxes and. frame saidtorsional member is subjected to torsion for yieldingly restraining saidlateral movement and restoring the frame and the journal boxes togetherwith the axle to their original relation, said operative connectingmeans having provision whereby said torsional member is substantiallyunaffected by vertical movement of said frame and springs, I

2. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, a lateral motiondevice comprising a U-shaped member supported by said frame in fixedrelation thereto, and means operatively connecting the free ends of saidU-shaped member to said journal boxes thereby subjecting said member torestraining torsion upon relative lateral movement between the journalboxes and frame.

3. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, a U-shaped torsionalmember supported by said frame and extending beneath said axle, meansfor supporting said member by said frame in fixed relation thereto, andmeans operatively connecting the legs of said U-member respectively tosaid journal boxes, wherebysaid U-shaped member is subjected to torsionin either direction of lateral movement between the journal boxes andframe.

4. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, a torsional membersupported by said frame in fixed relation thereto, and means operativelyconnecting said torsional member to said journal boxes including aflattened portion on the torsional member, an arm having an enlargedrecess, and a block receivable in said recess and provided with anopening for receiving said flattened portion.

5. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, springs connected tosaid frame and supported by said journal boxes, a pair of torsionalmembers extending longitudinally in opposite directions from said axle,and means including horizontal connecting links operatively connectingone end of said torsional members to the journal boxes and having otherends of said members connected to said frame in fixed relation thereto,whereby said torsional members are subjected to torsion substantiallyonly upon lateral movement of the frame and substantially independentlyof vertical movement of the frame and springs.

6. In combination, a locomotive frame having pedestals, journal boxesvertically movably guided by said pedestals and having lateral clearancetherewith, a wheeled axle journalled in said boxes, springs connected tosaid frame and supported by said journal boxes, a pair of U-shapedtorsional members extending longitudinally in opposite directions fromsaid axle, and means operatively connecting said torsional members tosaid frame and to said journal boxes, whereby said torsional members aresubjected to torsion substantially only upon lateral movement of theframe and substantially independently of vertical movement of the frameand springs.

JAMES C. MARIS.

